Japanese · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "鳥" in Japanese?

to-ri, two short beats — a dental t and a single tongue-tap.

鳥 /to.ɾi/

tori

Two matched counts, with a crest on the first. Because both consonants use the same region of the mouth, the word can smear into a single gesture if the o isn't given its full value.

Listen: 鳥

Free browser voice. Hear it read by a real native speaker inside the LingoDrop app.

Sound it out

to The tongue meets the upper teeth and releases without a puff, giving a stationary short o.

ri One flick of the tongue tip on the ridge, then a short tense i. The two consonants are made in almost the same place, so the vowel between them has to be clear.

Hear it in a sentence

鳥が毎朝鳴いています。

Tori ga maiasa naite imasu.

The bird sings every morning.

Listen: 鳥が毎朝鳴いています。

Free browser voice. Hear it read by a real native speaker inside the LingoDrop app.

鳥が毎朝鳴いています has 毎朝 (ma-i-a-sa), four morae with three consecutive vowels that must not fuse, and 鳴いて with another vowel pair. So the sentence is largely an exercise in keeping adjacent vowels apart.

Where English speakers slip

"TOE-ree" glides the o, aspirates the t, and substitutes an English r with a lengthened final vowel. Put the tongue on the teeth, damp the release, tap once, and clip the i. English speakers often hear the Japanese tap as a d — that's a sign you're close, not a sign you're wrong.